Hamilton Advokatbyrå and Nilsson & Co merge – form leading full service firm focused on the Stockholm area

Bra Bil has transferred a limited partnership company to Hedin Bil AB. The partnership owns a real property in Gothenburg. Part of Bra Bil's car sales and repair business, which was conducted at the real property, was also transferred to Hedin Bil. Setterwalls represented Bra Bil in the transaction.

Setterwalls has been the advisor of HQ AB (publ) since the company publicly announced its requirement to strengthen its capital base due to losses in its trading operation. Setterwalls has, inter alia, advised HQ in connection with the proposed and guaranteed rights issue of SEK 1 billion, and the sale of HQ Fonder to Investment AB Öresund for SEK 850 million to assure HQ’s short-term capital requirement.

Setterwalls has advised Sjätte AP-Fonden.

Lennart Iwar from Setterwalls advised STRABAG Projektutveckling AB, which is part of the global Strabag AS (listed on Austrian stock market), in negotiations with Rodamco Projekt AB, which is part of the listed French group Unibail-Rodamco SA (one of Europe’s largest real-estate owners) regarding a turnkey project to refurbish and extend the mall in Täby (retail, commercial and residential space).

Aviagen, the world's leading poultry breeding company, purchases Lantmännen SweChick AB, the leading poultry supplier for the broiler chicken industry in the Nordic region, by Lantmännen. Setterwalls has assisted Aviagen in the transaction.

Lawyer (H) Kaare Andreas Shetelig at present with the Office of the Attorney General has with effect from 29th November been nominated as junior partner in Wikborg Rein. He will be a part of the Trade, Industry and Public Sector Industry Group in Oslo, and enter into the team of legal procedure partners of this group.

Despite the fact that Norway similar to the rest of Europe experienced a relatively volatile real estate market in 2008 and 2009, the volume of transactions has increased substantially throughout 2010.This positive trend also applies to the building construction market, both commercial and residential.

Wikborg Rein is present at this year's annual conference of the International Bar Association which takes place in Vancouver from 4 to 8 October.

Bär & Karrer advised Gedeon Richter Plc in the acquisition of PregLem Holding SA, a privately held Swiss biopharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of gynaecological conditions and infertility. Richter is a leading multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Budapest, Hungary. The acquisition has completed and Richter now owns 100% of PregLem’s equity. The acquisition values PregLem at up to CHF445 million.

Channel Islands law firm Carey Olsen advised Wolseley plc, a FTSE 100 company on the creation of a new group holding company which has gained international profile in recent days.

Bär & Karrer advised Gedeon Richter Plc in the acquisition of PregLem Holding SA, a privately held Swiss biopharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of gynaecological conditions and infertility.

Continuing and developing the activity of the firm over last several months, El-Aref International Law Office has recently successfully advised and acted as counsel in the following matters in Europe and in the MENA Region.

The El-Aref International Law Firm is a law firm with a long history in Lebanon law and also a very modern law firm that can handle any type of corporate and financial issues a business may have. They work with clients in Lebanon and around the world and make sure that every client is completely satisfied. They have a large staff with expertise and experience in many different types of law. If your business needs representation, you should look into working with the best Lebanon law firm, the El-Aref International Law Firm.

AAA Baltic Service Company - law firm became a solely representative for Lithuania in European law Firm (ELF). ELF unifies 27 law firms acting in different countries across whole Europe: France, Germany, United Kingdom, Baltic states, Scandinavia, Switzerland. Luxembourg, Italy, Spain, Belgium and other, one in each country. The general meeting of ELF members voted unanimously in favour of accepting AAA Baltic Service Company as the newest member, completing representation across the Baltic States.

Erica Johansson has joined Delphi as partner in the Banking and Finance Group. Erica Johansson previously worked at Mayer Brown International LLP in London and has also worked at Allen & Overy LLP in London for several years.

Advokatfirman Delphi assisted Linköpings Stadshus AB in an issue of commercial papers of no more than SEK 2 billion with Nordea Bank as arranger.

Peter Utterström was elected chairman of the World Services Group (WSG) on 7 September. He will continue the work of 2009-2010 years' chairman Alberto Lasheras Shine to establish the World Services Group as one of the leading global networks for professional service providers within legal services, accounting, investment banking and finance.

Delphi assisted the Swedish based company Lindgens Metal Decorating Coatings & Inks when AkzoNobel acquired worldwide assets in several countries, including a majority stake in the joint venture company Server Boya in Turkey.

Delphi assisted Sydsvensk Entreprenörfond and others in connection with an investment in the medical device company Metpro Ronneby AB during the summer.

The Law Society is taking legal action against the Legal Services Commission (LSC) over the outcome of the family legal aid tender round, which will see the number of firms assigned to family law work reduced from 2,400 to 1,300.

Bindmans LLP has climbed five places in the league tables published this week in The Lawyer UK 200 Annual Report 2010. This year we are ranked at 188th, based on the annual turnover of UK law firms, compared with 193rd position 12 months ago.

Another great year of reviews from the Legal 500

Stephen Grosz, Saadia Khan and Clare Jennings of Bindmans LLP represented the Law Society in its successful High Court challenge to the Legal Services Commission’s family legal aid tender process.

Seven new recruits have been welcomed into Gibraltar’s leading law firm, Hassans,underpinning its continued growth in spite of the difficult economic situation worldwide. Threetrainee solicitors, Harriet Rhoda, Piers Barber and David Borge and four barristers, AlbertAgius, Stephen Noguera, Matthew Torres and Joelle Wahnon will work in variousdepartments, including property, litigation, tax, and commercial. 

The Swiss law firm Bär & Karrer strengthens its tax department by recruiting three (highly) qualified tax specialists. 

UK private equity house, Inflexion Private Equity LLP, has announced the closing of its new 2010 Buyout Fund which has raised a total of £375m. 

On 4 October 2010, Orascom Development Holding AG (“Orascom”), a leading developer of fully integrated towns, completed a CHF 185 million capital increase by way of a rights offering to its shareholders and holders of Egyptian Depositary Receipts. The net proceeds of the offering will be used to fund Orascom’s devel-opment projects and for general corporate purposes. The syndicate of banks comprised Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and UBS Investment Bank acting as Joint Lead Managers and Joint Bookrunners. 

On 4 October 2010, Orascom Development Holding AG (“Orascom”), a leading developer of fully integrated towns, completed a CHF 185 million capital increase by way of a rights offering to its shareholders and holders of Egyptian Depositary Receipts.

On September 20, 2010, RWE AG for the first time issued a euro hybrid bond with a total volume of € 1.75 billion. This is the biggest ever euro hybrid bond issued by an industrial corporation in Europe.

Hengeler Mueller is advising the underwriters led by COMMERZBANK Aktiengesellschaft and Deutsche Bank AG on the capital increase of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG in the amount of € 420 m.

On September 16, 2010 the Spanish construction and services entity, ACS Actividades de Constucción y Servicios S.A., announced a takeover offer for the entire issued share capital of HOCHTIEF Aktiengesellschaft.

Carey Olsen is the market leader for legal services to Guernsey’s funds industry, according to Thomson Reuters’ Lipper statistics report. 

Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii was chosen as the law firm of the year during the ceremony organized by the prestigious British publication: The Lawyer.

Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii announced that it signed a cooperation agreement with Ţurcan & Ţurcan – leader of the business law market in Chişinău (Republic of Moldova).

NIEDERER KRAFT & FREY WINS SWISS CAPITAL MARKETS AND CORPORATE LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR AWARD 

31 August 2010: Niederer Kraft & Frey has advised SIX listed Implenia on the purchase of a real estate portfolio and development unit of SIX listed Sulzer group. 

NKF ADVISES ADVENT CONTROLLED TRAVEL RETAIL INVESTMENT S.C.A. IN PRIVATE PLACEMENT OF 2.9 MILLION SHARES OF SIX LISTED DUFRY 

Bär & Karrer won the award "Swiss Law Firm of the Year" in The Lawyer's annual European Awards ceremony. Held in Berlin, the event saw the top firms from each of Europe's main markets rewarded for their excellence over the last 12 months. 

The Hong Kong office recently acted as BVI advisers to a consortium consisting of Zijin Mining Group Co., Ltd (“Zijin”) and China-Africa Development Fund (“CADFund”) in connection with a US$284 million acquisition of Platmin Congo Limited, a BVI company undertaking copper mining activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

Ogier (Chris Byrne and Peter Longstaffe) acted as Jersey legal advisers to WestLB (as Sole Co-ordinator and Joint Arranger) in relation to the issuance by A.R.T.S Ltd (a Jersey SPV administered by Deutsche Bank Jersey) of a number of tranches of floating rate notes in an aggregate amount of just under US$865,000,000 pursuant to the A.R.T.S US$5billion note issuance programme. 

Ogier Guernsey has recently acted as lead counsel in the establishment of World Shariah Funds PCC Limited ("WSF") as a class B collective investment scheme in Guernsey. WSF is a shariah-compliant investment fund which also complies with the requirements of the UCITS directive. WSF is one of only a handful of shariah-compliant funds established in Guernsey and the first for Ogier Guernsey. 

Relying on the corporate experience and the excellent reputation of “Eurolex Bulgaria” ltd., especially in the area of privatization, “Carlsberg  Bulgaria” chose the company for a consultant on the procedure for privatization of the municipal shares in the capital of “Hliab I Hlebni Izdelia” ltd., owned by municipality Blagoevgrad.

27.09.2010 - AstapovLawyers joined a working team to handle establishing a self-regulating organization (SRO) by the Russian Grain Union. The organization will be empowered to set, control the compliance with, and impose sanctions for the violations of, obligatory rules for Russia’s agricultural market.

Wiersholm advises Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. ("KKR") in their acquisition of a 76.9% ownership in Visma Holding ("Visma")

AVELLUM PARTNERS ADVISES TOP LEADER BANK IN UKRAINE ON FIRST POST-CRISIS PRIVATE UKRAINIAN BANK EUROBOND TRANSACTION

Law firm AKD has appointed Mr L. (Luc) Defaix as a partner with effect from 1 September 2010. Before this date, he worked at management investment company Penguin Ventures, and will now be joining our Corporate Law practice group in Eindhoven.

Law firm and notarial services provider AKD has appointed Klaas Meersma as a partner effective from 16 September 2010. Klaas, who joins from Houthoff Buruma will be part of the firm’s Government & Enterprise section in Amsterdam.

MAQS LAW FIRM in Estonia is the training partner of PÖFF (TALLINN BLACK NIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL) and its BLÄCK MARKET programme for the film industry.